Firefly and the Raven
by mwalker
Summary: The crew of Serenity get an unusual job offer with unusual problems, even for them. This is post-Serenity-the-movie. The second story in my Firefly/Highlander crossover trilogy.
1. Chapter 1: The Job Offer

**Firefly and the Raven**

A Firefly/Highlander: The Raven Crossover Fanfiction

written by Mel Walker

_I do not own any of the characters or situations from either Firefly or Highlander: the Raven._

* * *

Mal picked up both drinks, and walked through the crowd back to his table to wait for his contact. He set his glass down, then made a show of wiping the table before depositing the other in front of his friend.

"Thank you, captain," she said, picking up the glass. "It's always nice to see a man show proper concern for the woman he's escorting to such a fine establishment."

"Hey, Inara, you asked to come along," said Mal. "Frankly speakin', after the last place I took you to, I'm surprised you asked."

Inara smiled at the memory. "Promise me you won't ruin such a beautiful day by trying to teach some slavers a lesson. You don't need to show off for me."

Mal sputtered. "Show off for you? Inara..."

She toasted him with her glass, winked, and sipped the contents gingerly. As much as she was enjoying teasing the captain, she wasn't entirely sure how the drinks were fermented on this moon. To her surprise, the wine tasted good.

"What is this? It's actually quite palatable," she said.

Mal took a drink before answering. "I'm not exactly sure you'd like to know."

"How bad could it be? It's not like it's made out of..."

He cut her off. "Grapes."

She stared at him. "Just grapes?"

Mal swirled his glass. "Well, yes, and no," he said, clearly enjoying the suspense. "Grapes, and a fungus, of sorts."

She gulped down her last sip. "Fungus?" she asked, hesitantly.

"Sort of," he answered, smiling widely. "You see, they let the grapes stay on the vine for a long time, and then a growth that's local to this moon starts attacking the fruit. They pick them when they're nice and furry, and then..."

"Stop!" she said, putting her drink down. "I don't want to know any more."

He grinned, and took a swallow of his. "I'm surprised at you, Inara," he chastised her. "I would never of thought that a sophisticated and, need I say, 'high-priced'..."

"No," said Inara.

Mal continued, "...lady like yourself, who moves in such exclusive circles, would turn down such a rare culinary experience." He drained his glass, just for good measure. Putting his empty glass down, he twisted the knife. "Besides, you said it was good."

Inara put a wicked smile on her face. She drained her glass in one long swallow, and gently set it back down on the table.

"'Palatable'," she told him, "is what I actually said."

He laughed. "We'll make a petty thief of you yet."

Inara's smile faded. "I haven't decided yet, Mal."

His face had grown serious, as well. "I know, Inara." He looked away.

"Mal, I'm sorry, I just..."

"Are you Malcolm Reynolds?" A voice interrupted her. She looked up and saw the voice was attached to a rough-looking man.

"Could be," said Mal. "Depends on who's asking."

"Badger wants to talk to you," was the response.

"Badger's on Persephone," said Mal. "You ain't him. I don't want to call him, and I'm certainly not going to visit him any time soon."

"There's 30 platinum in it if you go to Persephone to speak with him."

Mal blinked. "Why does he want to see me that bad?"

The man said nothing.

Inara whispered urgently. "Mal, don't do it," she said. "What if it's another trap, like with Atherton?"

The man dropped a bag on the table. It clinked.

"What's that?" asked Mal.

"Half up front," said the man, "if you go to Persephone to talk with Badger, and leave within the hour."

Mal stood up, grabbing the bag. "Lucky for us, we were just finishing our drinks," he said. "Inara?"

Inara stood, and followed him. She caught up to him as he walked out the door. She grabbed his arm.

"Mal..." she began.

He leaned close and spoke to her in a low, urgent, tone. "Inara," he said, "we need this. If it's a trap, we'll do our level best to see it coming. If it's not, talking to Badger won't do any harm that a good bath won't cure. We need the coin. This is what we do, Inara, and you know that."

"Mal," she began, and stopped. She started again. "Mal..."

"I know my name, Inara," he said.

She gave him a dirty look while she tried to think of something to say. The only thing she could come up with was, "just don't do anything stupid."

Mal smiled at her, and she couldn't help but smile back. "I never try to," he said, and started walking again.

"I know," she said, walking beside him. She smiled her wicked smile again. "Maybe you should let Zoe plan this one, just this one time."

"You wound me," he said. "And to think, I was gonna buy you a bottle of that excellent liquor for your birthday." He strode off.

"I can't wait," she muttered, and followed.

* * *

"Kaylee!" yelled Mal, as he and Inara marched up the boarding ramp and on to the ship.

"Yes, Captain?" she said, poking her heard out of the engine room. He saw one bare shoulder, and quickly averted his eyes.

"You and Simon stop… whatever it is… you're doing, and get the ship ready for launch," he ordered, as Inara softly laughed at his discomfort. Mal decided to attack the problem head-on, maybe tweaking Inara in the processes.

"You know, Kaylee, sex is all well and good, I suppose, although, admittedly, that's more Inara's specialty than mine..." He felt Inara's scowl more than he actually saw it. Serves her right for laughing, he thought.

"...But when you're supposed to be watching the ship, you WATCH THE SHIP!"

"I'm sorry, Captain," said Simon, pulling his shirt down over his chest. He walked out into the cargo bay. "You're right; it was inappropriate."

"When is anything appropriate?" muttered Kaylee from behind the door.

Simon glanced at her, looking apologetic, but continued, "It won't happen again."

"Better not," said Mal.

"I would have heard anyone coming," said River's voice, from the catwalk above.

Mal looked up at her. "I know, little albatross, but tain't your job to watch the ship when I give the job to someone else. You go and..."

River interrupted him. "Doing the preflight, yes, Captain!" She ran off to the bow.

Mal looked over at Inara, a little taken aback. "I know that saves time, but it's still more than a little strange."

"I think you're stuck with it," said Inara, gently laying a hand on his arm.

"She a good co-pilot, you know," he told her. "Not in Wash's league, of course..." He trailed off, and looked away.

"No one is," said Inara, squeezing his arm, then pulling her hand away.

"Doc, not that you'd probably know, but are Zoe and Jayne back yet?" asked Mal.

"No," said Simon. "I'm pretty sure we would've heard Jayne bellowing." They all heard engine noise coming down the row of ships. "Maybe that's them now."

It was. Zoe was driving the flying mule while Jayne rode shotgun. They pulled into the cargo bay, loaded down with supplies. Mal walked over to Zoe's side.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"We had to spend a bit more than we would've liked for the vitamins the Doc says we need," said Zoe. "Other than that, it went okay."

Mal looked accusingly at Simon, who shrugged and said, "Next time, buy a ship with a modern protein processor. We need these for those longer, more round-about trips you insist on taking."

Mal shrugged back at him. The Doc fixed them up, and he'd brought them one big score, that was true. "You're the doc, Doc," he said. "Now, let's get this ship off the ground!"

Zoe smiled. "Did we get a job, sir?" she asked. Mal tossed the bag of coins at her. "Who paid us in advance?"

"Badger," said Mal.

Zoe narrowed her eyes. "Must be a trap, then," she said.

"Thank you!" said Inara, finally getting the support she thought she deserved.

"It may be, later on," said Mal, "but I think this first part is on the up-and-up. 'Sides, it won't take long to get to Persephone, and earn the other half to that." He pointed at the money bag.

"I don't like it, sir," said Zoe. She turned and walked away.

"But, you got a plan, right, captain?" asked Kaylee.

"I hope not," muttered Inara. Mal looked at her. She smiled sweetly back at him.

"We'll go in with our eyes open," said Mal. "That's about all we can do."

"There's no way in hell it's Badger that wantin' us for the job," said Jayne. "He'd never pay us that much just for showin' up."

"It is a conundrum, as Badger his-self might say," said Mal. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we unravel this little mystery."

He walked to the bridge, to find River sitting in the co-pilot seat.

"Ready for space, Captain, sir," she said.

Mal smiled, and sat down. "At least one my crew is showing a bit of respect for this trip," he said.

"I already know you know it's a trap," said River.

"Oh, not you, too!" he cried, as the ship rose from the ground.

"I'll see it coming," she said. "I'll protect my captain." She smiled at him.

Mal smiled back. "Do you think Simon would agree to you coming with me to see Badger?"

She smiled at him. "No," she said. "But he might surprise us both."

"Even you?" he asked.

"It's possible," she said. She turned to smile at him. "I do sleep occasionally."

Mal laughed. They sat in silence as _Serenity_ rose into the black. He let River plot a course, approved it, and they boosted for Persephone.

"I'll take the bridge, captain, if you want," said River.

"You have it," he said. With a last look at Wash's plastic dinosaurs, he walked down the corridor to his cabin.

* * *

The flight to Persephone went as quickly as it usually did, although _Serenity_'s captain had occasion to wish it would've gone quicker. Between Inara's hints that it was likely a trap, and his stumbling over Kaylee and Simon in yet another embarrassing position, he was feeling more than a bit anxious to see Badger.

After he realized he was anticipating that, he began retreating to his cabin as often as possible. At least it would all be over soon.

"Coming up on Persephone, Captain!" sang out River over the intercom.

He walked over and hit the talk button. "I'll be right up. Take us down."

"Aye, aye, captain!" came the response.

Mal got himself properly dressed as he imagined a free-lance trading captain should be, and climbed up the ladder. He found Zoe and River on the bridge.

"How's the re-entry?" he asked.

"Smooth as silk," said Zoe. "Almost like..." she trailed off.

Mal hesitated. He knew that offering comfort wasn't his strong suit, so he took at different direction.

"Zoe," he said, "I want you to come to Badger's with me."

"Yes, sir," she said, pulling herself into her almost-attention pose. "You want me to get Jayne, too?"

"No," said Mal, "I'm leaving him in charge. Odds are we won't be needing him."

"You should take River," said Simon, coming on to the bridge.

"Wha-huh?" said Mal, taken off guard. He shook his head to clear it, and started again. "Doctor, to be perfectly honest, I'd anticipated more of an argument, and less of you suggesting this off the bat."

"Jayne told me how she helped with that job before Miranda," he said, "before we left. Since this is undoubtedly a trap, she could spot it for you before you see it."

"I'll spot it, and Zoe can shoot it!" said River, with a quick glance over her shoulder.

"And what am I doing, during all this spotting and shooting? Don't I have a part to play?" asked Mal.

"Of course you do, sir," said Zoe.

Simon smirked. "Without you, there'd be no trap to fall into."

"You're our inspiration, sir," said Zoe with a wide smile.

At least she's in a good mood, thought Mal. "We all have our talents," he said. "River, when we land, get whatever you want to bring and meet us in the cargo bay."

* * *

"Aye, aye, captain, sir!" floated after him on the recirculated air.

Persephone was having one of its hot and muggy afternoons. It made the warren of shipping containers that was Badger's den particularly uninviting.

"Captain Reynolds!" said Badger, as they were shown into his office. "How are you on this fine day?"

"Anxious to get the other half of my money," said Mal, in no mood for small talk.

"My agent tells me you left Sonoma quickly enough," said Badger, setting a bag full of coins on his desk. "Still, I believe the agreement was you listen to what I have to say first."

"Is there enough money in the 'Verse for that?" asked River, in a cockney accent. She smiled at Badger.

"Yeah, now I remember you," said Badger. "I thought you was a passenger, love."

"She was; she's on the crew, now," said Mal.

"And what does a pretty thing like you do on the crew?" asked Badger, and laughed. His sycophantic henchmen quickly laughed, too.

"I kill things that Jayne can't," said River, quite seriously. Badger stopped laughing. "Oh, and I'm the co-pilot, too," she said, smiling.

"Heh," said Badger, unsure of what to make of her. "Nice girl you got there, Captain Reynolds. Should fit right in with that motley crew of yours."

"Small talk doesn't pay the bills," Mal reminded him.

"Right, right, to business, then," said Badger. "Got a job for you. The client requested you personally." He waggled his eyebrows at them.

"Who is it?" asked Zoe.

"Wouldn't tell me his name. At what he's paying me to find and hire you, I didn't ask." Badger turned around to get a sheet of paper of his desk. He handed it to Mal. "There's what you need."

Mal started reading. "Bellerophon?" asked Mal.

"That's what it says," said Badger. "Some rich idiot wants you to ferry some stuff for them. Pick it up on one of them anti-gravity islands of theirs, and take it to wherever they tell you. They provide the fuel for the trip. Payment on delivery."

"That's it?" asked Mal, reading the sheet.

"Nothing but," said Badger, picking up the coin purse. He tossed to River. "There ya go, love, nice bit of payday."

"And you don't know anything else," said Mal. "And, why would you? Upstanding citizen pillar-of-the-community type like you."

Badger smirked. "That stick up your pîgu; still in place, is it?" He went behind the desk. "As soon as you leave, I'll place a call. I'll say whether or not you took the job. Then I get paid, a bit more than you just did, I might add. That's the going rate for us pillar-of-the-community types, isn't it? My job is over, as soon as you say you'll take the job." He sat down, and smiled at them. "You'll take it, won't you?"

Mal showed the paper to Zoe. She stared. "That's the payment?"

"Yep," said Badger, smiling.

"This is a trap," said Mal.

"I wouldn't know," said Badger. "Someone wants to trap you, I suppose that's his business." He paused. "You've picked up more than a few enemies, Captain Reynolds, and those of us who escaped the little 'cleansing' of your contacts are more than hesitant to do business with you. Or, so I'm told." He smiled. "With the Core Worlds Parliament yelling about that Miranda flap, everything's in a royal mess. Nobody wants to touch a ship like yours, and I don't blame them. So, my advice to you is, if it is a trap, try to get their money before they trap you." He stared at each of them, looking just a bit angry. "Now, are you taking the job, or not?"

"We'll take it," said Mal. As there seemed to be nothing more to say, he turned on his heel and left. The two women followed.

"Good luck," said Badger, after they passed out of sight. He almost sounded like he meant it.


	2. Chapter 2: Trouble

Mal wasn't in the best of moods when they got back to _Serenity_. Dealing with Badger was irritating at the best of times and, as Badger had pointed out, this wasn't the best of times. Mal didn't take well to jobs like this one. There were just too many questions unanswered. It sounded like a simple shipping job. But shipping between planets was easy to hire, especially for someone that lived on Bellerophon. They didn't need to hire a specific ship from a different planet, waste time tracking it down, and pay a good job's wages up front. Either someone was being uncommonly generous, or they were going to a great deal of trouble to put _Serenity_ in a certain spot at a certain time.

And Mal didn't believe in generosity, not in his line of work.

"River!"

Simon had obviously been waiting for them to get back.

"Did everything go okay?" he asked.

"Not a bit of trouble," said Mal.

River hugged her brother. "Thanks for letting me go, Simon."

"Like I could have stopped you," he said, "but someone's got to watch out for the Captain. If he gets killed, we have to move." He looked at Mal. "And I've gotten the medical bay just like I like it."

Zoe said, "Captain's right, Simon, nothing untoward happened. Yet."

"So, where is the untoward event happening?"

Mal frowned. The doc was getting a mite irritating. "We head to Bellerophon. And, people, despite the Doc's mood, let's try not to borrow trouble. We'll slip in, get the cargo, and be gone. Nobody will ever know we were there."

* * *

Entering Bellerophon space was uneventful, and River had them descending towards their target without wasting any time. The island was a medium-sized one, but very nice. Near the single landing pad was a large assortment of crates and a small aircraft. Mal waited by the forward loading gate as River set them down. Zoe waited with him.

"Just seems wrong," he said, "coming here under our own name and clearance."

"Things seem to be running smoothly, sir," said Zoe.

Mal heard the doubt in her voice. "You think this is where it goes wrong?"

"Just waiting for the other shoe to drop, sir," she said.

"Always does seem to," he replied as they touched down. He heard the engines shutting down, and the rest of the crew gathered behind him as he hit the button.

When the doors opened they revealed the crates stacked next to the landing area. Standing next to the crates was a gray-haired woman.

"Zoe?" asked Mal.

"Looks okay," she replied.

"Doesn't look like she's carryin'," said Jayne.

"Okay, Jayne, with me," said Mal. "Oh, Inara, do you want to come get shot at?"

She was startled to be invited, but she wordlessly walked behind the two men. The waiting woman walked towards them with a bounce in her step that was at odds with her apparent age. She smiled at them; a big, wide, friendly, smile.

"Ah, Malcolm Reynolds," she said, offering a hand to shake. "A real honor. My name is Sharon. I have the rest of your information here. If your crew wants to get started, there's a loading palette over there."

"Have we met, Miss...?" he said.

"Just Sharon, captain," she said, "and no, we haven't. My employer has told me a great deal about you, that's all."

Jayne humphed. "All good?" he asked.

Sharon smiled a very pretty smile that made her eyes sparkle. "Yes. Well... from her perspective, anyway."

"I don't particularly like mysteries, Sharon," said Mal. "I like to know who I'm working for."

Sharon smiled. "She said you'd say that." She chuckled. "I assure you, for what it's worth, that neither I, nor my employer, is planning to give you any problems. She merely knew that you could use a good job, and she happened to have need of moving somewhat suddenly, for unrelated reasons. She knows that you can be trusted to do the job, whatever that job may be, if you say you'll do it. Most of your questions will be answered at the end of your journey. Let me just say that, while not all of this collection is of equal value, some of it is beyond price. She believes that you will respect her discretion, and her kindness in offering you this job. Are you going to back out?"

"I don't back out, once I take the job," said Mal. Inara couldn't help but chuckle. Sharon noticed her.

"You must be Inara," she said. "You are as beautiful as my employer described."

"Thank you," said Inara, somewhat taken aback by the unexpected compliment.

Sharon turned to face Jayne. "This, of course, must be the famous Jayne Cobb, just standing there, making me wish I was decades younger." She winked at him. He took a step back, startled. "I have to say, your statue doesn't do you justice."

Leaving Jayne with no answer, she turned to Mal. "Captain, it was a pleasure to meet you. Top your ship off with fuel, load the crates, and be on your way." She handed him a folder and a small storage wafer on a lanyard. "The folder has your destination papers and shipping credentials. Give the wafer to her when you arrive. Godspeed."

With that, Sharon walked over to the flyer, got in, and started it up. It leapt into the air and quickly vanished into the distance.

"That was a mite odd," said Jayne.

"Everything's in order," said Mal, reading the paperwork he'd been given. He dropped lanyard around his neck and tucked the wafer inside his shirt. He raised his voice, and said, "Okay, people! Let's get everything loaded, and quickly! I don't want to spend one second longer here than we need to! Kaylee, you find the fueler and get it working. The rest of you, get moving!"

He walked over to Zoe. "Zoe, take River with you, and do a quick search of the house. The island looks deserted, but I don't want to be caught with my pants down."

"Wouldn't want that to happen again, Captain," she said, and strode away.

"No, we wouldn't," he growled, and everybody hopped to work. "Happens on this planet altogether too often."

* * *

They had been in the black for two days before the trouble started.

"I don't know how it happened, Captain," said Kaylee. She and Mal were in the engine room, looking at the damage. The Fluidic Transmission Stabilizer had fallen to the ground. The box had broken open, and the circuit boards had cracked.

"Kaylee," said Mal, "I'm not an engineer, but to me, that looks like it was knocked off the wall. You know I hate to ask this..."

Kaylee blushed. "Simon and I didn't hit it, Captain," she said. "Especially not during the wild sex."

Mal blanched. "Stop saying that!" he said. "Just fix it."

"I can rig something that will work for now," said the normally chipper engineer. "But we'll have to get it well-and-truly fixed as soon as we land."

The captain looked thoughtful, and a rarely-seen serious look fell over her face. "This isn't something to hope we can get by without for very long, Captain," she said. "Without the stabilizer, other, much more expensive, parts will start to break. Parts like we lost last time in the fire. Remember?"

"What do we do now?" asked Mal.

With an earnest look, Kaylee said, "We go to half-speed. That should get us to Triumph, and we can pick up a replacement there. I'm sorry, Captain."

Mal sighed. "Not your fault, Kaylee."

"It sure as [niou fun] isn't!" she said. "I inspect this part every single day we're in the black. I can't figure out how it could just fall off!"

Mal said, "maybe I can." He pressed the intercom button. "River."

"Yes, captain?" came her response.

"Cut speed," he told her. "And River, you haven't sensed anything..."

"Out of the ordinary?" she finished. "No, captain. Nobody out here but us."

"Are you sure?" he said.

"Even when I'm not listening, Captain, I can't help but hear. There's no one on board _Serenity_ but us."

The captain released the intercom. "Kaylee, do what you can to keep us flying."

"Aye, captain," she said as he left the engine room. "It will be smooth sailing from here, I promise."

Zoe and Jayne were waiting the bridge. River was in the co-pilot seat. He told them the news. "She's going to rig something up, until we can get to Triumph."

"We're still two days out, Sir," said Zoe.

"I know how far it is, Zoe," said Mal. "Now it will be three days. We'll have to run slow."

Zoe nodded. "It seems like an awful long time to run with a broken engine," she said.

"Damn long time," added Jayne.

River swiveled the pilot's chair around. "Don't matter," she added. "There's nothing we could get to faster, not since yesterday afternoon."

Simon frowned. "An inauspicious place to have something go wrong."

"That was my thought," said Mal. "Jayne, Zoe, we three are going to take shifts watching the engine room."

"You think we got us a stowaway again, Mal?" asked Jayne, with a pointed look at River.

Before Mal could answer, River spoke up. "I didn't notice anyone."

"Would you have?" asked Mal. "For certain?"

River thought about it. "I knew Jubal Early was following us, even before he came on board. I woke up and knew. I am sleeping better lately. No bad dreams." Simon put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "But if someone was hiding on board, I'd know it. He'd have to be dead for me to miss him."

"And then we'd find him by the smell," said Jayne, and barked a laugh. River looked disapprovingly at him, and swiveled the chair forward.

"Thanks for volunteering for the first shift, Jayne," said Mal. Ignoring Jayne's grunt of protest, he said, "I'll relieve you in a few hours. Three days, people. Keep your eyes open. Let's not disappoint our well-paying mystery client."

* * *

Later that same night, while it was Zoe's turn to stand watch, Kaylee was finishing some maintenance on the engine when an alarm went off.

"That's the airlock alarm!" yelled Kaylee.

She ran out into the cargo bay in time to see small bits of trash start to swirl towards the door. _Serenity_'s main lock was open about 3 inches; not enough to empty the bay, but enough to suffocate the crew before very long. Zoe had run over by the door control panel and was hitting the big red button. The doors refused to close. When she noticed Kaylee run up, she started to give orders, but Kaylee cut her off.

"Close the doors," Kaylee said, pointing up at the interior bulkhead doors on the upper level, "before all our air is gone! Go!"

Zoe ran to obey, while Kaylee grabbed a tool from a pocket and popped the panel open.

"[Aiya]!" The wiring was all messed up, and a new circuit board was in the middle of it all. She was having trouble focusing her vision, but she managed to yank the circuit out of the panel. She twisted two wires, then two more, and the door started to close. That was the last she saw before her vision faded and everything went dark.

When she woke up, Simon was standing over her, blocking the light. She knew she must be in his medical bay, but everything was out-of-focus. "Simon?" she said. Her voice cracked. He looked as blurry as everything else.

"Shh," he said. He gently stroked her hair. "I almost lost you, Kaylee. Just relax."

"Lost me?" she said.

He nodded. "There was almost no air left in the cargo bay," he said. "You're suffering the effects of decompression. Your vision will be a bit blurry until the capillaries in your eyes heal."

"Here, Kaylee," said River, and handed her a small cup of water. Kaylee hadn't seen her.

"Thank you, mei mei," said Simon. "Don't worry, Kaylee, you'll be all better soon."

She smiled at him. "You'll take good care of me?"

He nodded, smiling back. "Always."

Mal had been watching from the door. He cleared his throat, and said, "Kaylee? Can you tell me what happened?"

She took another sip, and said, "There was a vacuum alarm. The cargo bay door was stuck open. It wouldn't close! There was something behind the switch."

"You were holding a circuit board in your hand when Zoe found you," said Mal.

"It doesn't belong," said Kaylee. "I've never seen it before."

"Why didn't you use the emergency oxygen?" asked Simon.

Kaylee said, "Missing."

Mal came to a decision. "Sorry, Doc, I'm going to have to take over your room." He raised his voice. "Everyone in here!"

Kaylee heard the room fill, and Zoe ask, "What is it, Sir?"

"This," said Mal, holding up the circuit board. "Somebody wired this into our door controls. If Kaylee hadn't yanked it out, the main part of the ship would've been airless. Somebody else is on board."

"I didn't hear anyone, Captain," said River.

Jayne snorted. "Fine time for your readin' to be broken." She stuck out her tongue at him.

"The person who planted that doesn't need to be on board," said Zoe. "Someone could get on, weaken the FTS, and plant the circuit for later. If River doesn't 'hear' anyone, it's a safe bet we're alone."

"Don't make no difference," said Mal. "We still stand guard. We also go through the weak points of the ship and see if our mystery guest left any other surprises."


	3. Chapter 3: Hijacked!

The next two days were quiet. None of the crew found anything else that didn't belong, but Zoe wasn't going to relax until they were safe on Triumph. She was on guard duty that night. They'd arrive the next morning, and Kaylee had kept the engine running, River hadn't seen or heard anything out of the ordinary, and Jayne was itchin' to shoot something. Zoe had relieved the Captain at midnight, and taken up a post overlooking the cargo bay and the door to the engine room.

The night was looking to be as uneventful as the day had been, and that led her to thinking. Zoë knew that she was spending too much time alone. Too many times since Wash had died she'd been in their... her... room instead of with the others. She kept herself together for the sake of the Captain and the crew. It did hurt less as time went on, as the Preacher might have told her, if he hadn't been dead, too. It was these times, times when she was alone, when she wanted him beside her, telling one of his dumb jokes, telling her how beautiful she was, or just being near her. For what seemed like forever, he had been with the ship, waiting for her at the end of a job. She relied on him for so much more than piloting. He protected her from these bad kinds of feelings. She missed that so much.

A soft thump intruded on her misery. With a start, she realized it wasn't the first thump she'd heard. She pulled herself out of her funk and drew her gun. The engine room door was still closed, so the noise must have come from out in the bay.

"Who's there?" she called. Silence answered her. She turned on the big overhead lights. "Who's there?" she called again. She took her gun from her holster, and moved into the bay, standing between the engine room and the rest of the cargo.

She wondered if the sound was just one of the noises that _Serenity_ sometimes made. She didn't call out again, noiselessly stepping around the crates. This time she heard soft footsteps quickly moving on the other side of the crates.

She ran around to the other side, and yelled "Freeze!" She was just in time to see a foot vanish at the other end. "Intruders!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, and gave chase. She jumped over the lid of an open crate on her way back to the stairs. When she reached them, she saw a man running up the stairs towards the crew quarters and the bridge. She fired, and he stumbled, but kept moving. She ran up the stairs, yelling for help. She caught sight of him outside the crew quarters. Jayne had woken up, and was trying to stop the intruder. The intruder ran up to him and with a quick chop to the neck, Jayne fell back against the wall. It was just enough time for the intruder to make it past him.

"Duck!" yelled Zoe. Jayne flattened against the wall, and Zoe put another bullet into the running man. It did no good; aside from another stumble, he made it into the bridge, and pulled the door shut. Jayne grabbed the handle, but he couldn't open it. It was locked from the inside.

"What the gorram hell is going on?" said Mal, coming up the ladder from his room.

"We have an intruder, Sir," said Zoe.

"[Hun dan] fast one, too," said Jayne. "Sorry, Mal, he got past me."

"An intruder?" asked Kaylee. She, Simon, and River arrived in the hall. "But, how?" She looked at River.

River was stunned. She had trouble forming words to answer. "Where did he hide?" she stammered. "HOW could he hide?" None of them had ever seen her look unnerved. Crazy, silly, thoughtful, but never unnerved.

"There's an open crate down in the bay, Sir," said Zoe to Mal. "It stands to reason he was hiding inside."

"A cryogenic capsule?" asked River. "Like how I got here?"

"I didn't look close enough," said Zoe. "But I don't think so."

"I'll check it out," said Simon, and left.

"Kaylee, go with him," said Mal. Kaylee nodded, and followed Simon.

Mal thought for a moment. "River," he asked, "is there anything you can tell me about him?" He nodded towards the bridge door.

River shook her head. "I can hear him, but it's just gibberish and noise. He's hiding himself. He's hiding what he's thinking." She shook her head. "Captain, he wasn't there before. When Zoe yelled and I woke up, I knew he was there. When I went to sleep, he just wasn't!"

"Knocked out, maybe," said Jayne.

River rolled her eyes at him. "He'd still be dreaming," she said.

Jayne's eyes got wide. "You can see dreams?" he said. "Gorramit!"

"How can we open that door?" said Mal. He pounded on the door, and shouted. "GET THE HELL OFF OF MY SHIP!"

The man came to the door, smiled a mockingly sweet smile, and hung a coat over the window.

"[Ni ta ma de tianxia suoyoude ren dou gaisi]!" said Mal.

Simon and Kaylee ran back. "It was just a box," said Kaylee. "Not a cryo chamber, but it was sealed with its own air supply."

"The air canister was pretty small," said Simon," and I can't imagine how he survived with such a small amount of air."

Kaylee added, "The door had a timer on it. Maybe it opened early, and he's confused?"

"He ain't confused," grumbled Jayne.

Zoe nodded. "I don't usually agree with Jayne, but he's clearly the one who's been sabotaging the ship."

The floor rumbled for a moment.

Kaylee said, "That was an engine burn. We're changing course."

"There isn't anywhere else we can go," said River. "Triumph is the only place we can reach with the fuel we have."

Inara arrived in the hall, looking perfectly coiffed as always. "Are we changing course?"

Simon said, "Someone is hijacking the ship, and we're locked out of the bridge."

"What?" she exclaimed.

Before she could ask more questions, River interrupted. "Captain, he's trying to 'wave someone."

Mal turned to his ship's engineer. "Kaylee..."

"On it!" She ran out and over to Inara's old shuttle. The rest of them followed.

She had the shuttle's comm panel opened by the time they arrived, and was fiddling with it. "Almost," she said. She twisted three wires together, and flipped a switch. Voices emerged from the speakers.

"...the cargo. You'll need armed men when I dock; the crew is still alive."

"Why didn't you just kill them?"

"They are more resilient than I was led to believe. The Tam girl is a telepath. Fortunately, I discovered that fact before I stowed away, and was able to take precautions. I'll want a bonus for this job."

"Too late. You should've asked before."

"The bonus is to cover your gross negligence, the incomplete briefing, and the extra expenses I incurred. I need an extra 2700, or I take the cargo to the owner instead of you."

"She'd kill you."

"I'm sure we could work something out," said their hijacker. "I could always dump it in a decaying orbit, and let it burn."

There was a long pause. "You'd do it, wouldn't you? All right, you robber, you'll get your bonus."

"Have it waiting. I'll arrive inside of 6 hours. Bart, out."

The speakers filled with quiet static. Kaylee flipped the switch to off.

"So, his name's Bart," said Jayne, breaking the silence. "Don't think I ever met anyone named Bart."

River sat down at the pilot's station, and began typing into the navigation database. "I don't know exactly how much we've turned, Captain, but six hours is too soon even to reach a Triumph orbital. But look at these rocks here, and here, near the L-4 Point. We could reach those in a bit over five hours. The Point is approaching us. It's ahead of Triumph in orbit."

"A space station?" asked Inara.

Zoe said, "Like when the Captain's wife almost killed us?"

"As much as I'd love to spend the day reminiscing," said Mal, "we still have work to do. Kaylee, I want you to sabotage his control over the ship as much as you can. He already tried to dump our air. Make sure he can't do anything like that from the bridge."

On cue, the lights in the main bay turned off. Inara reached under the console, grabbed a flashlight, and handed it to Kaylee.

"Right," said Mal. "River, I want you to listen. Anything you can pick up from him…."

"Like whether he's about to cut the lights," inserted Jayne.

"Like that," said Mal. "Anything you can tell us would be good."

River said, "Right, Captain!" She seemed glad to have a task.

* * *

Kaylee got the lights working quickly, then set to work re-routing other systems. Jayne and Zoe stood guard on the bridge, making sure Bart didn't sneak out. River kept track of their course using the shuttle's navigation systems, while "listening" for any stray thoughts. That left Mal, Simon, and Inara to try to discover what in the crates someone would want to steal. Unfortunately, that was nearly everything.

"Another crate of priceless paintings," said Simon. He slid one upwards. "A Van Gogh, if I'm not mistaken. One of his minor works." He carefully put the painting back into place. "This crate alone is worth twenty times the price of _Serenity_, at least."

"Egyptian statuary," said Inara, closing the lid of a box. "Also priceless."

Mal said, "This one has some kind of fancy vase covered with old Chinese." He closed the lid. "I don't know art, but I think you're right, Doc. Everything here should either be in a museum or a vault."

"It makes you wonder about some things," said Simon.

"Like how we got the job?" finished Mal. "I figure none of this is legal. Our client stole it, smuggled it to Bellerophon, and wants us to ship it to Triumph, where she'll disappear with the goods."

Inara said, "If there had been a theft of this magnitude anywhere in the Core, it would've been all over the Cortex. It would be impossible to hide. Some of this may have been stolen once, but not recently."

"Maybe it was stolen one piece at a time?" said Simon.

"If it's legal, why hire us?" Mal stared at the boxes. "An armed transport with a few escort fighters, that's what she should've hired."

Simon looked around the cargo bay. Mal narrowed his eyes. "What are you thinking, Mr. Criminal Mastermind?"

"Nobody would suspect a ship like _Serenity_ to be carrying treasure like this," said Simon. "And our client clearly believes you can keep them safe."

"I'm not doing a very good job of that so far," said Mal.

"The client clearly didn't anticipate someone sneaking on board from Bellerophon," said Simon, "or she would've had someone else other than her elderly employee waiting for us. Unfortunately for us, having _Serenity_ fail to arrive at our destination is easy to do." He paused to think. "I don't think they want everything here. I think they want one thing. Nobody steals the contents of an entire museum. There's one thing here that our thief wants more than anything else."

"If only we knew what that one thing was," said Mal. "But we've searched everything."

Inara's eyes widened. "Not everything." She smiled coyly, sauntered over to Mal, and laid a hand on his chest.

"Inara…," said Mal.

She smirked, reached a hand into his shirt, pulled out the lanyard, and held up the storage wafer.

"Maybe this will tell us something," she said.

* * *

"I can't read it," said Simon, after plugging it in to his reader. They had moved to the doctor's quarters to make the attempt. "There's only one file, and it's either gibberish or it's encrypted. I know which way I'd bet."

"Can you decrypt it?" asked Mal.

"I'm a doctor, not a codebreaker," said Simon. "And even if I was, I'm not going to crack a modern code with the computers we have on board _Serenity_." He sat back against the wall.

"What's the filename?" asked Inara.

Simon checked his reader before answering. "The filename is SANDBAG."

"SANDBAG is an alliance code," said River, poking her head into the room, just in time as usual. "It's used by Alliance law enforcement. All of their data transmissions are encrypted with it."

Inara, Mal, and Simon just looked at each other. Simon broke the silence. "Mei-Mei," he said, "how would you know that?"

"Mr. Universe had a list of ciphers he was working on," she said.

"That's it," said Mal. "A king's ransom in the crates, and she hangs the real secret around my neck where a stowaway wouldn't be able to search. Gorram [ching-wah tsao duh liou mahng]!" He got up, and ran out of the room. Everyone else followed him to the engine room, where he called for Kaylee.

"Kaylee," he said, "I need to send a message. Can you re-route the comms so our hijacker can't hear?"

She came out of the engine room, and pointed at an open wall panel. "I'm already workin' on 'em, Captain," she said. "I can be done in a half hour, give or take. Then he won't be able to eavesdrop on anything you say."

"Unless he's got a radio," said Jayne, who had overheard from the catwalk above. He was carrying Vera, his favorite gun, over his shoulder, and had a sixgun in his hand. "Didn't see one on him, but that don't mean nothin'."

River walked out into the bay from Inara's shuttle. "I can't tell if he has a radio or not. He hasn't thought about it that I can tell, but I still can't understand much of what he's thinking about."

"It's a rare man who learns how to hide his thoughts from a telepath," said Simon.

"Maybe he could teach me 'fore I kill him," muttered Jayne.

"I want to use a shuttle to send out a distress signal," said Mal. "I don't much like broadcasting our plight to everyone in range, but I don't think we have another choice, unless we tried to fight when they board."

"Mal," said Jayne, "you know they'd just punch a hole in the ship and we'd be tryin' to breathe space."

"Unless they want something else that would be damaged by vacuum," said Simon.

Kaylee said, "Simon, he already tried to vent the air once."

Simon nodded at her. She was right. "Then what do we do?"

Mal sighed. "Kaylee, reroute the comms and be quick about it. When you're done, we'll send a distress call."

A half hour later, the signal swirled out into the Black. A few minutes after that, when the angry voices started castigating Bart, he was blissfully unaware.


	4. Chapter 4: Another Good Day

Jayne didn't like waiting. He was good at a lot of things—killing, tracking, and drinking among them—but he had never been a patient man. He was good at waiting if there was a good payoff at the end, but he didn't like it one bit. And, in this case, the payoff might just well be his death.

_Serenity_ was closing in on a space dock hung off of a big hunk of rock like an afterthought on a Christmas tree. Kaylee had rigged the ship's comm to broadcast out in the docking bay. From behind the cargo, they all listened. The space dock had been screaming at Bart to stop broadcasting the distress signal, but he hadn't heard them. That had just changed.

"Prize ship to dock, come in, dock." When no answer came from the space dock, their hijacker tried a second time, and then a third. Silence filled the cargo bay for a few moments before River spoke.

"Captain," she said, "he has a radio."

"Wish I could see his face," said Jayne.

"Captain Reynolds," said Bart's voice over the intercom. "I must congratulate you on your subtle sabotage. Your engineer's work, perhaps? My client is quite angry about the distress signal. I've ended up looking bad in his eyes. My reputation is now nothing more than gossip, and I have you to blame."

Mal stabbed the intercom button with his thumb. "What did you think would happen when you hijacked my ship?"

"Yes, Captain, you are correct. I underestimated you. Sadly, even killing you is out my hands. After we dock, my employer's team will handle that, and I will have to live with the shame. I don't suppose I could persuade you to come to the bridge, so I could kill you myself?"

Mal said, "That's not going to happen. What's going to happen is I'm going to kill you, then kill your employer and all his people. How does that sound?"

River was making "keep him talking!" gestures. Mal nodded at her as Bart replied. "I don't think that will happen, Captain," he said. "You do have a knack for survival, which is probably why she hired you to transport it."

"Is this where you tell me to hand it over, and you'll let us go?" said Mal.

Bart laughed. "Oh, Captain Reynolds, I'm terribly afraid it's not that simple. My employer insists upon making an example of you. He refused to tell me your past crimes against him, however. One more thing I must be ignorant of, I suppose."

River made a slashing motion, and Mal cut the intercom. She said, "His name is Bartholomew Everett Hyde-White. He's working for that man Niska." The rest of the crew blanched. Zoe looked at angry as Mal had ever seen her.

Mal thanked her, and opened the channel again. "If you wanted to tell us who you are working for, I may be able to fill in the blanks," said Mal.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Captain," said Bart.

"I suppose not," said Mal. "Niska always loves his little games, doesn't he, Bartholomew? Or perhaps I should refer to you as Bartholomew Everett Hyde-White?"

"Impressive," said Bart. "Did your telepath manage to get that out of my head?"

"We've had the comm systems at our control for hours," Mal lied. "How hard is it to get an answer back from our client? She'll be here soon and, unlike _Serenity_, her ship is armed."

"You're bluffing, Captain," said Bart. He sounded angry now. "If she had a warship, she would've transported the cargo herself. Even if there was a ship on the way, they aren't going to shoot at this ship. You're all dead in the end."

"Kaylee," said Mal. "Go ahead."

"Yes, sir," she said. "Sorry about this, girl," she told _Serenity_, and turned off the main engine power, setting the ship adrift. She kept one engine going for a half-moment longer, aiming them them straight at the main living area of the space dock.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" yelled Bart. "We'll crash, you fool!"

"I'm the captain. The ship goes where I want," snarled Mal. "Here's the deal—surrender to us, and we'll all fly away. We'll drop you on Triumph. Keep this up, and we'll slam into the space dock in a very few minutes. Your choice."

Bart laugh sounded a bit more insane. "Fool! I'll survive just fine. You'll be ones who die!" His laughter continued to fill the room.

"Zoe, Jayne, make sure he doesn't leave the bridge," ordered Mal. Jayne snapped Vera into firing position, ready to put a bullet into their hijacker.

"Just out of curiosity, Captain, when were you planning to change direction?" asked Simon.

River interrupted the conversation with a hug. "I love you, Simon."

Kaylee's eyes widened. "Oh! Captain?"

Mal was conflicted. Bart was still laughing—did he have a way to survive the collision? He watched the space dock grow closer. He opened his mouth to order Kaylee to reconnect the engine, but before he could give the order, a missile hit the space dock.

"[Shuh muh]?!" he yelled. Debris erupted, filling local space. Another missile slammed the target. _Serenity_ shuddered.

"Captain!" cried Kaylee. "Something hit our port engine. We can't restart!"

"IAV Roosevelt to Firefly-class vessel. Your engine is hit, repeat, your engine is hit. We will be in range to assist in 10 minutes. Please acknowledge."

Before Mal could respond, they heard Bart's voice. "This is Captain Reynolds of _Serenity_. I am declaring an emergency. I have hijackers aboard. I am trapped on the bridge."

"Gorramit!" said Mal. Over the radio, he said, "This is Captain Reynolds. The person you are speaking with has hijacked my ship!"

"Roosevelt, negative. I have proof that I am in command."

"Dammit! You are a dirty, stinking, [liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze duh ur-tze]…."

"IAV Roosevelt to Firefly. We will sort this out after we stop your ship, and board. Until then, stay off the damn channel!" The radio went silent.

"You won't win, Captain Reynolds," said Bart, over the intercom. "I took the precaution of having ownership papers forged. They won't be able to tell them from the real thing."

Mal shut off the intercom.

Kaylee said, "What are we going to do?"

"Stay calm," said Mal. "We're law-abiding citizens on this run, remember?" He slipped the lanyard back around his neck, hiding it down his shirt.

"And if all this is stolen?" asked Simon.

Mal didn't have an answer for that.

* * *

They waited for the Alliance ship to arrive. Within minutes, they heard the metallic clang of magnetic grapples attach, and felt the ship slow down. With a shudder, _Serenity_ docked with the bigger ship. The airlock was opened.

"Hands up!" said the first soldier.

Mal already had his hands in the air. "Two of my crew are guarding the bridge," he said. "Don't shoot them."

The soldier gestured to his team. Four of them raced up the catwalk. Two minutes later, they brought down Bart, Jayne, and Zoe.

"Captain," called the soldier in a loud voice, "ship is secure."

"Thank you," said Bart. "I've been trapped in the bridge since these people took over the cargo bay! I demand they be bound by law…." Bart's voice trailed off, and he stared at the airlock, just before an officer walked through. The officer stopped, then surveyed the cargo bay like an emperor.

His naval uniform was crisp and creased perfectly. It fit him like it had been tailor-made, which Mal thought it probably was. His dark hair and aquiline nose contributed to his noble bearing. He acted completely at ease, especially compared to Bart, who seemed on the verge of panic.

The officer spoke. "Thank you, Lieutenant. I am Captain Adams."

Bart tried to regain his composure. "Thank god. Captain, I am…."

Captain Adams held up his hand. "I believe I can resolve this quickly." He looked to the side. "Hello, Inara. It's good to see you again."

Inara smiled. "It is very good to see you, Ben. Allow me to offer my congratulations on your promotion." Inara rested her hand on the Mal's arm. "And this is our captain."

"Thank you," he said, with a nod of his head. "Lieutenant," he said, pointing to Bart, "take this man into custody, and throw him in the brig. I'll interrogate him later."

"You bastard," said Bart. "You won't get me that easy. It's not in the rules! It's not part of the Game! You can't just lock me up!" He tried to make a run for it, but when he passed Jayne, Jayne tripped him and slammed him into the floor, knocking him unconscious.

"Thanks," said a soldier, as two of them picked up the limp form.

"I owed him one," said Jayne.

They soldiers removed Bart, leaving Mal's crew alone in the cargo bay with the Roosevelt's captain. Inara turned to Mal and said, "Introductions. Mal, may I present Captain Benjamin Adams. Ben, this is Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of _Serenity_."

"Old client?" said Mal, shaking Ben's hand.

"Old enough," said Ben, with a smile. River hid a smile at the comment. "I've heard of you, Captain Reynolds, albeit totally unofficially. It is truly a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Why would an Alliance destroyer captain want to meet Mal?" said Jayne. "Not that we'd be up to anything illegal or sumthin' like that."

"Of course not," said Ben. "I would never accuse you of being petty thieves. I understand how insulting that would be. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a prisoner to interrogate. Take care, Inara." He turned to leave.

"Captain," said Mal, "do you happen to know what he was after?"

Ben turned back and gestured to the crates. "All this wealth isn't enough?" he said.

Mal's eyes narrowed. "Now, how is it that you would know what's inside these crates?"

Ben raised a single eyebrow. A smile barely touched the corners of his mouth. "There are more things in Heaven and Earth than you should know, Captain Reynolds," he said. "Give my regards to your client. Live. Grow stronger. Fight another day." With a nod towards Inara, he left the bay, closing the airlock behind him.

"He's a mite strange," said Jayne.

"Seemed nice enough, though," said Kaylee. "Shall I hook up the engine controls again, Cap'n?"

"Do it," said Mal. "Get us all shipshape so River can land nice and safe. I'm plumb tired of this job."

"Amen to that, sir," said Zoe.

* * *

The landing on Triumph only resulted in a few bumps. River and Kaylee blamed each other for them, but Mal figured that, after what they'd been through, any landing that they survived was good enough.

Another cargo ship was sitting next to _Serenity's_ landing pad. When Mal and Zoe walked outside, they realized the ship had been waiting for them when a familiar figure emerged.

"Mal!" cried the tall, slender, woman who hurried out of the ship.

Mal blinked. "Amanda… Montrose, isn't it?"

Amanda kissed Mal on both cheeks. "It's Amanda Darrieux, darling," she said, in an accent that Mal had only heard during the war. The handful of soldiers who spoke like that referred to themselves as the French Foreign Legion, whatever that had meant. In a quieter voice, she said, "At least, it's Amanda Darrieux for the moment. I'm afraid poor Ms. Montrose had to leave home quite suddenly. Fortunately, a reliable transport ship was available."

She turned to Zoe. "And Zoe, our handsome captain's strong right hand. Welcome to Triumph."

More cautiously, Zoe said, "Nice to see you, too."

"A friend told me you had some problems on the way," said Amanda. "I do apologize. I couldn't be everywhere at once, but I thought Bellerophon would have been safe. Did you know there has only been one major theft on the planet in the last 5 years?"

"I'd heard," said Mal. "The risk comes with the job."

Amanda smiled at him. "And you do it très bien, mon beau capitan. Now, if you don't mind, can we get the cargo moved? A warship in the system should keep the riffraff away, but one can never be sure."

"Jayne!" yelled Mal. "Fire up the mule, and let's get moving!" The three of them walked to _Serenity's_ open cargo bay.

"How long have you known Captain Adams?" asked Zoe.

Amanda smiled again. "I have many friends. One never knows when they'll come in handy." She looked around at the cargo. In a serious voice, she said, "What happened to everything?"

"We were trying to figure out what our friend Bart was after," said Mal. "No need to worry—we didn't damage anything."

"If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have hired you," she said. "But, as for what Bart wanted…."

Mal took the lanyard off his neck and held it in his outstretched hand. "The SANDBAG cipher, I suppose."

Amanda froze in the act of reaching for it. "That's… an excellent guess, Captain."

As she took the storage wafer, he said, "Seemed a good one."

Jayne drove the mule out of the ship, laden with boxes, and making too much noise to converse. Amanda used the moment to think.

When the mule disappeared into the other ship, Mal spoke first. "I understand the drill, Ms. Montrose-Darrieux," he said. "But we had to check."

Amanda sighed, and motioned for them follow her to her ship. "I need an edge," she said. "It's not like the old days. It's too hard to keep one step ahead of the law, unless you want to live like, well, you. I like a bit of luxury."

"Which means livin' near where the Feds are," said Mal. "Not always healthy for… people like ourselves."

She nodded. "Yes. I've thought about giving it up—I have a old and dear friend who keeps 'waving me to come out to his ranch on Shadow and raise cattle. He claims it would be safer, but I can't see that lasting long term. It's not really my kind of life." She looked at Zoe. "But then, nothing lasts forever, does it?"

Zoe said, "Life is short."

"No matter how long it is," said Amanda. "Maybe I'll take him up on his offer." She smiled. "But, business first, I suppose." She opened a locker, and pulled out a duffle bag. "Your payment," she said, handing it to Mal, "plus a bit extra for the unexpected trouble." She held up a hand. "Before you protest, Mal, you earned it."

"Oh, I wasn't plannin' on protestin' it," he said, taking the bag and handing it to Zoe. "One thing I just can't figure out, though—how did Bart manage to hide on board?"

Amanda shook her head. "I don't know the details, Captain, but what's life without a few mysteries?"

"This is one mystery I'd like an answer to," said Mal.

"I wish I could answer you," said Amanda, moving them out of the way of the mule carrying the next batch of crates. "But it's not a secret I can tell. One thing I can tell you, though—according to Ben, Bart was working for Niska. He was apparently blackmailed into doing so."

"I'm really beginning to hate that man," said Inara, coming up from behind them.

"We know about Niska. How did he get involved in all this?" asked Mal.

Amanda grimaced, and said, "I may have offended him a teensy little bit when I… stole the cipher from him."

Zoe deadpanned, "That's just asking for trouble."

"And I had to move, and I had to sell my wonderful floating island, and go through all this inconvenience," complained Amanda, "but at least I could see some old friends, so all's well that ends well. And now I see that your man is bringing the last load of my property, so I must be preparing to leave."

Mal said, "Always a pleasure, Amanda."

She smiled. "It is, isn't it?" She kissed him on both cheeks, and did the same to Zoe and Inara. She whispered in Inara's ear, "Life is short, my dear. Don't waste too much of it deciding." She nodded her head at Mal, and entered her ship as Jayne drove the mule back out.

Her ship floated off the ground as they closed _Serenity's_ main door.

"She's still an interesting woman," said Inara, "she hasn't changed a bit."

Jayne grunted. "She's richer than we thought."

"And full of mysteries," said Zoe.

"Which we are being well paid to forget about," said Mal. He tossed her the duffle. "I suppose that will have to do for today. Okay, people! Let's get off of this godforsaken rock and back to looking for work! This money won't last forever!"

The crew jumped to their preflight tasks. Mal watched them go, all except Inara, who came over to him with the look of someone who had made a decision she wasn't quite sure about. She wrapped her arms around Mal and hugged him. He hugged back.

"What's this for?" he asked.

"All's well that ends well," said Inara, and leaned in tight. "And sometimes when it begins."

Mal nodded. "All's well," he said.


End file.
